Homegrown rocket Nuri arrives at launch pad, awaits liftoff Wednesday

Industry

Published: 23 May. 2023, 13:51 Updated: 24 May. 2023, 08:41

Homegrown rocket Nuri arrives at launch pad, awaits liftoff Wednesday

Nuri rocket is erected at a launch pad in Naro Space Center in Goheung, South Jeolla, on Tuesday morning. [KOREA AEROSPACE RESEARCH INSTITUTE]

Korea's homegrown rocket Nuri arrived at the launch pad at Naro Space Center in Goheung, South Jeolla, on Tuesday morning, a day ahead of its liftoff to send multiple satellites into orbit.

It was erected at the space center at 11:33 a.m. and is set to undergo prelaunch checks in the afternoon, which will be completed before 7 p.m. if the process goes as planned, according to the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korea Aerospace Research Institute.

Nuri, also known as KSLV-II, reached the pad at 8:54 a.m. after leaving an assembly building at 7:20 a.m.

The liftoff — Nuri's third launch — is likely to take place at 6:24 p.m. Wednesday, but the time could change, the ministry said.

In June last year, Korea successfully launched the space rocket Nuri in its second attempt to put satellites into orbit, reaching a major milestone in the country's space program.

Korea has become the seventh country in the world to develop a space launch vehicle that can carry a more than 1-ton satellite, after Russia, the United States, France, China, Japan and India.

Nuri rocket departs from an assembly building to Naro Space Center in Goheung, South Jeolla, on Tuesday morning. [KOREA AEROSPACE RESEARCH INSTITUTE]

In 2021, Nuri successfully flew to its target altitude of 700 kilometers (435 miles) but failed to put a dummy satellite into orbit, as its third-stage engine burned out earlier than expected.

On Wednesday, Nuri will perform a mission to launch practical satellites into orbit and will carry eight satellites, including the country's second next-generation small satellite and four microsatellites developed by the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute, codenamed SNIPE.

It is the first time that Nuri is tasked with handling multiple separate satellites in one flight.

Korea has invested nearly 2 trillion won ($1.8 billion) in building Nuri since 2010. The project was carried out with domestically made technology on its own soil, including the design, production, testing and launch operation.

The country plans to conduct three additional Nuri rocket launches by 2027 as part of efforts to advance the country's space rocket program further.

BY SOHN DONG-JOO, YONHAP [sohn.dongjoo@joongang.co.kr]